Just Fluff
by Lithiasaur
Summary: Literally what the title says. There may be a story attached to it some time! As it is, just enjoy three chapters of my utter love of Holtzmann and Erin, in as natural a habitat as could be found. Chapter 3 is up, and that's all there is! Let me know if you'd like more.
1. Chapter 1

Holtzmann was drumming her fingers on the equipment quickly, over the knobs and valves as if they were part of the percussion set, the beat fast and difficult for even her fingers to keep up with. She moved quickly, anchored to her rolling chair, and slid backwards and across the massive machine, spinning around the table corners to approach it from all angles. Sometimes she was on her knees on the chair, leaning forward, sometimes she was slumped down, or half bent over trying to reach a specific bit while the chair rolled away beneath her and she pulled it back on impulse. Everything about her erratic movements was mechanical, making them completely unreasonable to the one person watching her. There was no way a human being could be so measured and so random, so precise and so careless, and still be effective in what they were doing.

Yet somehow, Jillian Holtzmann managed it. With a finesse, Erin Gilbert had to admit to herself as she watched the strange creature of science in her natural habitat, that was almost magical. There was music blaring, but the beat of Holtzmann's work did not seem to match it, despite how furiously loud it was. Whatever was in her brain was much louder. She rolled from one end of the long table to the other, spinning two angry looking tools like knives in her hands as she went, eyes never leaving the invention she was creating on the fly.

"Holtzmann?" Erin finally called, pushing away from the door's threshold and stepping into the work room. This had been declared Holtzmann's space, by general understanding of the entire team. That, and she'd set up her wild work room faster than anyone could have imagined, let alone tried to stop. She claimed two rooms, and knocked down the wall between them in her free time. She had the lab, yes, but that was communal space for them all, if they ever felt like willingly subjecting themselves to high doses of radiation. The build space was different, and it felt that way when Erin walked in. Like a sacred space. No, a church felt less hallowed than this, in its way. Holtzmann revered this place, and set up a wall around herself whenever she was inside it. They'd all learned to not bother her while she was there, since she did not speak to them anyway. Not if she was busy at work, or was simply not inclined to.

Thankfully, she did most of her work well into the night, when they had all gone home. For them, the work day had a finite stop. Consciousness had a resting point, where they could recharge with a simple thing like sleep. For Holtzmann, things came differently. Sleep was a luxury that came rarely, and there were always too many incredibly important things to get done so she could surprise the other girls with them in the morning. They always loved it when she had something new and exciting to show them.

They smiled. They called her crazy, but there was love in their eyes. In their tones.

"Holtz?"

She'd stopped rolling, seeming lost in a daze. She was staring at the machine, had been for a few solid minutes. Erin kept calling to her, but she was completely still. Erin moved toward her, carefully, stepping further into the lion's den. She did not want to scare her, but managed to walk up to her from around the table and gingerly, slowly, reached to put her hand on Holtzmann's shoulder.

"Holtzy?"

Movement. Holtzmann turned her head sharply toward Erin, just before she had a chance to put her hand on her shoulder. Erin jumped, which she immediately deemed to be silly considering she was the one attempting to startle someone out of a daze. However gentle and from a place of concern that startle was meant to be. Holtzmann turned the chair, swinging around sharply to face Erin, catching her hand by the wrist and drawing it down, away from her shoulder, then using it to pull herself closer to Erin. She grinned, and Erin breathed a sigh of relief. Disengaging herself from the hold, she took an awkward step back and shook her head, perplexed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. You looked… pained? I don't know. Maybe it was silly. I-I'm sorry, I just… are you always here this late?"

"I'm always somewhere this late," Holtzmann said thoughtfully, pushing her chair sideways to get away from the proximity. She span it around as she slid, bumping into a wall before leaping out of the chair entirely and wobbling, a bit dizzy, back the way she'd come. She leaned on her machine, motioning her hand toward it. "This thing keeps me here, sometimes. Tonight, you'll notice. Astutely, as always." She nodded her head, a mock tip of the hat that was not quite as mocking as she wanted it to be.

Erin watched her, struggling, as usual, to understand.

"So… yes, then? All the time? Okay, well, I think you should get home. This would explain your increasingly erratic behavior. I mean. For you." Erin shook her head, motioning for Holtzmann to follow her toward the door. The nuclear engineer did not move, looking at her with a curious, vaguely amused expression on her face. When she smiled like that, thinly veiled delight in something only she really knew, her dimples showed. Behind her thick, yellow glassed goggles, her eyes were shining devilishly. "Have you eaten today?"

Holtz shook her head slowly, smile fading a little bit. Had she?

"What's so erratic about my behavior?" She asked, echoing Erin's tone. There was a little concern there, Holtzmann realized, as she spoke it back to herself. Erin looked sheepish, shrugging.

It was a tough question, really. Holtzmann's behavior was, at the best of times, erratic. That was what made her Holtzmann. It was why Abby adored her, and relied on her genius. It was why they trusted her, because she approached things without fear, without reserve, and without hesitance. She was unpredictable, which made her useful. There would never be another brain like hers, and even Patty had to respect the way it turned at odd intervals. Erin, too, found a place in her life for the oddity that was Holtzmann. Recently, however, things had shifted.

"Well, you're not," Erin said at length, on a sigh that indicated she would rather not be talking about it. She would have to kick herself later for bringing it up. There was no escaping now, and they both knew it. Erin tried, despite herself, turning toward the door and moving as if to escape through it. Holtzmann slid leisurely in front of her, leaning on the entryway and looking up at Erin with a smirk. She reached up and pushed the goggles from her eyes, making Erin wince. It was incredibly hard to look into Holtzmann clear, icy blue eyes and not think they already saw anything she was trying to hide.

"Not? You said I was."

"No, I mean. We can have this discussion when we're walking. We'll get something to eat. Come on, aren't you tired of this lab?"

"A date and a dissection of my behavior? You do know how to charm a girl," Holtzmann winked, straightening and then spinning on her heels. She missed her turn off, going for a second spin, before she moved forward at last. Erin felt like she was being freed from a cage, hurrying forward lest Holtzmann block the way out again.

"No, not a date," she said firmly, "And not a dissection! I just mean that you're usually impossible to guess at, but lately… you're quiet. You haven't lit anything on fire. At least not on purpose. You haven't put anything in Patty's proton pack in a while. I guess, well… you haven't been laughing."

They'd made it to the front door, all the lights off, their things gathered, coats on, before the conversation arrested Holtzmann's progress. She looked at Erin in confusion, as if she had not noticed the shift in her own mood until Erin pointed it out.

"I'm sorry," she said, honestly, that unsure, almost hurt look not leaving her face.

Erin felt panic rising in her throat. The last thing she ever wanted to do was upset anyone: confrontation was just not her thing. She worked very hard, in fact, to try and be agreeable with everyone. All of her young life was spent hiding, pretending she was not the weirdo everyone wanted to tell her she was. Teased her about being. She learned a very hard lesson that she had no idea how to cope with, being ostracized for believing in something no one else could even consider real. Her belief in ghosts made her a loser. Her seeing one, and believing she had seen it, made her a target. Constant bullying taught her how to avoid those that would cause trouble, and how to shut down the fights before they started. Demure, quiet, never struggling, never fighting back. Hiding within herself and accepting the truth others forced onto her. That was how she survived, well into her adult life. It wasn't until Abby came back into her life, as haphazard and unwanted as it had been, that she realized how much of her time she wasted.

Old habits died pretty hard. And sometimes, they had afterlifes.

"No, I… I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry, let's just… let's just drop it, okay? Yeah, okay, we'll just go get some food and get you to bed. You need to sleep, that's all I mean."

Holtzmann watched her for a long, tense moment, then laughed and grabbed Erin by the arm and gave her a tug. She smiled at her until Erin relented and smiled back, feeling forgiven, though there was still a tense air around them that neither wanted to comment on. It relaxed as they left the firehouse, locking up behind them. Holtzmann was leaning on Erin's arm, her own hooked in the bend of Erin's elbow, as the two walked. Erin did not mind it, only feeling vaguely uncomfortable instead of feeling terribly so. It was an improvement, as far as either of them were concerned.

"Nothing's going to be open, you know," Holtzmann chirped, keeping her eyes ahead of her. Erin looked at her sharply, then moved the arm Holtz was clinging to so she could check her watch. It was three in the morning. "Café Jillian is always open, of course. Expensive, but if it's the only choice…"

"You cook?"

"You can be the judge of that. This way."

Holtzmann tugged her down a turn with a jarring pull, making her stumble. She laughed as she went, though, knowing better than to resist too much. She had no idea how she'd managed to lose track of time so profoundly. It had only been eleven or so when she started watching Holtzmann in the work room, she was fairly certain. Their conversation had not taken that long, there was no way it could be three in the morning already. Midnight, at best, by her reasoning. Somewhere, she managed to lose three hours.

"Wait, you walk to work?"

"When I'm not running," Holtzmann replied leisurely, "how do you think I keep this girlish figure? Not from eating things that are good for me, I'll tell you that."

The walk was not as short as Erin wanted it to be, though she was expecting to be taken to an apartment complex. Instead, they arrived at a small street in a decidedly quiet and normal part of town. Holtzmann's house was easy to spot, no matter how hard the white picket fence tried to blend it in with the ones on either side. It was a dark, ugly purple color, for one, that looked like a California raisin costume had been melted down and thrown at the building. The corpse barely made enough paint to cover the whole thing, it seemed, leaving lighter blotches in some areas, and darker ones where the sun did not directly hit it. The grass was green and neatly kept, but once Holtzmann opened the door that feeling of neatness was gone. While the outside was only half life her, the inside was very clearly Jillian Holtzmann.

Abby once told Erin that Holtzmann was like bottled lightning. She was powerful, wild and beautiful, but she was destructive and dangerous for all that. The inside of her home reflected that, looking like a very calculated mess that was likely as difficult to sort through and process as any of the math Holtzmann used to build her machines with. Even more so, maybe, as this was the theory of her life, and how she conducted herself in the day to day. A person alone was at their most honest, and here, in the safety of her home, Holtzmann could let all of her idiosyncrasies sing. There was nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of. No reason to temper herself, like being in public often told her to.

Again, Erin felt out of place. She was entering an even more sacred space than the work room before, though at least this time she had an invitation. Holtzmann closed the door behind her, locking it while looking back over her shoulder and making a dangerous face at Erin. There was no real threat there, of course, and Erin rolled her eyes. Holtzmann, undeterred, danced over and offered to take Erin's coat, peeling it from her shoulders and hanging it up by tossing it over the back of the sofa. She took her own coat off and did the same thing.

"Dining room is through there, I'll have something ready in a jif. If it's edible or not will be anyone's guess, but I'll let you test it first."


	2. Chapter 2

Dinner was simple, but Erin had not been expecting too much. Holtzmann was unprepared for guests, yet what she lacked in non-microwaveable food, she made up for in good booze. They had retired to the living room and were sitting at the table together, chatting idly for the last half hour or so. Erin was only just starting to feel sleepy, despite how late it was, glancing at her watch and sighing reluctantly. Holtzmann was drinking leisurely from a beer, though there were glasses for each of them that had been used for scotch. She felt more unwound than she had before, and her ease was apparent. Comforting, in fact. A happy Holtzmann was the best kind, Erin found.

Erin had more to drink than she had intended, her head swimming as she stood up. She took a moment, wavering where she stood and trying to compose herself, before grinning brightly at Holtzmann. The Nuclear Engineer tipped her bottle toward the other scientist, knowing just how she was feeling.

"You leaving?"

"I should, yes. I should probably, uhm. Get home, you know. It's very late."

"I do know that," The blonde smiled, leaning on the edge of the sofa where she was reclining. She had her feet up, taking up most of the space, though Erin had been sitting on the other end. Erin looked down at her, noting that her usually pale skin was flushed red, across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose. When she smiled, the color spread, deepening into a soft rose color. Erin could not tell if that was caused by the alcohol or not, but the sight of it forced a smile onto her face. She tilted her head to the side, loathe to move away from where she was standing. Holtzmann watched her, smiling warmly, but not without some manner of mischief in her gaze. "I know that it's dark, too. And you walked here."

Startled, Erin clapped her hand over her own mouth.

"Oh, God, that's right. My car's at the firehouse. I'll have to walk all the way back there, then drive home, which I can't do anyway because…"

"I plied you with alcohol," Holtzmann cut in, nodding sagely. She bounced to her feet, dropping her empty bottle carelessly. Devoid of beer, the bottle fell harmlessly to the rug under their feet, rolling and clattering against the nearest table leg. Holtzmann's hands were in the air as she rounded on Erin, and she threw them around the other woman's shoulders languidly, draping herself over her. Erin found herself struggling to support Holtz, who was not shy about turning over full control to the half-drunk physicist. "You'll have to stay here. Get some beauty sleep for work tomorrow."

Before Erin had a chance to really understand the pang of anxiety that coursed through her, Holtzmann was moving off. She disappeared down a hallway, leaving her guest sitting there with a dumb look of surprise on her face. Feeling uncomfortable in her clothes all of a sudden, hot with a strange tingling moving over her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself, taking a deep breath in and doing what she could to find her center.

Before Abby made the fateful decision to print their book and post it online for sale, thus forcing Erin out of her safe little bubble of a life that she'd built for herself, Erin found it very difficult to make friends. Mostly because she did not try to, finding it better to be friendly and professional, and just a little bit annoying. No one ever ventured to get too close to her, for their part in it all, and if that was because she was actually unlikeable or if she was trying harder to keep them at bay than she knew, was unclear to her. It was also a question she never sought to answer, finding it easier, more peaceful, to simply exist in the construct she made for herself as a life.

Abby had been her first, and only true friend.

They bonded in school, as two oddballs who believed in things no one else was brave enough to. They were outcasts for it, but that never seemed to get to Abby as much as it did Erin. Her shame, caused by her need to be respected, if not liked, eventually led to the massive rift that fell between her and Abby. She knew that, but it was in the past now: they had made up for it all by saving Manhattan by a flood of ghosts. They were accepted now, or at least more than they ever had been before, and along the way they'd picked up three more great friends. Holtzmann was found by Abby first, the two working together before the Ghostbusters were formed, and Patty joined them soon enough. She and Holtzmann bickered endlessly, but there was a strong bond between them because of it. Kevin had been… more of an accidental acquisition, but not one any of them could regret now. He was an absolute idiot, but he was their idiot. They had to take care of him, and make sure he remembered to eat and drink water, and put on pants.

Erin had bonded with all of them, each tie unique but wonderful, but still very, very new. Abby took to all the change with eagerness and an adeptness that allowed her to be immediately comfortable with any situation. She was brave and strong willed, and knew exactly what she wanted at all times. It never seemed like anxiety or indecision ever occurred to her, and certainly had no power over her. For Erin, they tended to dictate her life. She was never sure what she was meant to do, or what consequences each decision could bring. She feared conflict, yes, but also dreaded the thoughts of others. Opinions had always mattered, and though she was working through it, they still did.

Standing there, lost in thought in the middle of Jillian Holtzmann's unexpectedly pleasant home, Erin felt a surge of those old insecurities. Her heart thundered in her chest, feeling like it was somehow crawling up into her throat. The pulse was loud in her ears, anything else fading under the steady thunder.

How had she gotten here? Forging friendships so tight they prompted her, an isolated, quiet creature, to go for a spontaneous night of drinking at a brand new location, with a woman who was, by all other accounts, absolutely crazy? Just how well did she really know any of them, besides Abby? It had only been a couple of months, tops, after all. The near apocalypse they'd stopped certainly helped bond them quickly, but life was pretending to be normal now. There was no stress, no dire need, no threat. Just an urge to help a friend that seemed to be in need, who now seemed absolutely fine. Had Erin just been projecting her own feelings of doubt onto Holtzmann, when she watched her earlier in the lab?

Sad. That was what Erin saw, what she thought she needed to help ward off. Was she, herself, the sad one? About what?

"Now that's not the face I was hoping for."

Holtzmann's voice made Erin jump, a small yelp of surprise escaping her mouth, which she once again covered with her hand. She stared wide eyed at the other Ghostbuster for a long moment, while Holtzmann stared back at her mostly out of obligation and a cat like refusal to lose a staring contest.

"I… I'm sorry," Erin eeped out, at length, "I… should…."

"Lay down, I agree," Holtzmann said, moving by her with the armful of blankets and pillows she was carrying. She dropped them haphazardly onto the sofa, turning and putting her hands on her hips as she regarded Erin seriously. Erin nodded, dumbfounded by her quiet panic, and moved to help make the sofa. Holtzmann caught one of her hands by the wrist, making her pause. "You get the bed, you drunk. Unless you need a teddy bear to be the big spoon for, I didn't think you'd want me in there with you."

"I don't want to put you out, Holtz," she protested feebly. The Nuclear Engineer was already striding forward, hauling Erin down the hallway behind her. She was surprisingly strong, for such a small person. Erin found her will to protest quieted, distracted as they walked into Holtzmann's room. Stopping short, surprising Holtzmann now by forcing her to stop, Erin looked around the small space in wonder.

The was definitely not the master room in the house. Likely, that space was used for a lab, or some other kind of crazy work space. This one, too, was half filled with a desk that was covered in bits and pieces of technology and scraps. Loud posters and strange decorating choices clung to the walls all around the desk, splitting the room almost perfectly in half.

The other half was surprisingly feminine and comfortable, sporting a bed and not much else. It was like she had only felt half a small room was enough to spare for a sleeping space. The bedding was faded and comfortable, well worn from use but clean and cared for. Like something she'd had for a very long time, and just had not changed out. It was soft pink in color, though maybe at one time it had been more vibrant. There was a bedside table nearby, sporting only a lamp and a stack of three books atop it. A dresser sat against the nearest wall, near a small closet with a closed door. Again, there were no knick knacks beyond two more stray books atop the dresser. No pictures, no knick knacks. It was like this little space existed outside of the rest of Holtzmann's crazy personality, a quiet haven.

"Thought I slept in a coffin, huh? That's okay, most people assume that."

Erin stirred at the voice, eyes focusing on Holtzmann. The woman was standing in front of her, watching her carefully while Erin examined the room. It was interesting for her to see the thoughts forming in Erin's head. The decisions about what she thought she was learning about her enigmatic coworker. She smiled, though, as if not offended by the strange pause. Privately, though, Holtzmann felt incredibly vulnerable, offering her private space to someone for the first time. No one had seen where she slept in years, if ever, and she never intended to break that standard. That fear did not show on her face, though, as she had long ago mastered the art of hiding any real emotion behind goofiness and smiles.

She also spent a lot of time watching others, and could recognize the anxiety in Erin's eyes. She was feeling something very similar to Holtzmann's own doubt, which spurned in her a desire to ease her worry. She reached up, taking the side of Erin's face in her hand and pulling her a bit closer. She felt Erin resist, her neck tensing and resisting the movement, but she continued gently. Closing her eyes, Holtzmann leaned close, noses just barely brushing before she tilted her head forward and rested her forehead against Erin's.

"Sleep it off," she said quietly, though they both knew she was not talking about the alcohol, "it's a new day in the morning. We'll hit it together, because that's what we do now. We'll get used to it. I want to, and I know you do, too." She backed up a bit, smiling warmly and offering Erin a wink. "See you in a few hours, my friend."

Holtzmann pulled back completely now, letting go of Erin's cheek and drawing her arms to herself. She crossed them over her chest, nodding one more time before retreating out of the room. Erin watched her go, still shaken, but smiling despite herself. Two awkward beings who did not know how to make friends in a conventional way, somehow forging their way forward. It was silly, but Erin felt very relieved to have someone like Holtzmann there with her. For Abby and Patty, making friends was simple. Interacting with others was easy. They were harder to relate to and, through no fault of their own, harder to talk to about it all.

Sometimes, a kind gesture from a kindred spirit was all it really took. Erin felt her anxiety fading, and the warmth of the evening, from the fun and the drink, returning to its rightful place in the forefront of her mind. She moved to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it and running her hand over the soft, faded fabric of the comforter.

Holtzmann retreated to the living room, flopping down on the sofa despite the blankets and pillows just being thrown randomly over it. One pillow was under her back, the other new squished between her ankles. The blanket was folded up under her upper body, and she used the sofa's arm as a pillow because the initial flop ended up in a comfortable enough position for sleep. She closed her eyes, the room slowly spinning around her and not slowing even in the dark, and she smiled up at the ceiling over her. She felt herself drifting to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Far sooner than Holtzmann thought reasonable, she found herself being shaken awake by a gentle, but firm, hand on her shoulder. She opened one eye, blearily recognizing Erin's face in the darkness, hunched close to her own. Resisting the desire to listen to a sudden impulse to wrap her arms around Erin's neck, Holtzmann instead moved to sit up a bit. It brought her nose to nose with Erin, and she opened both of her eyes now to stare unhappily into Erin's eyes.

"Oh, uh," Erin retreated a bit, pulling her head back in junction with a short step backwards. "We're going to be late. You sleep like… moss on a rock. It's so strange. I know the saying is like a rock, but you… how are you comfortable like that?"

Holtzmann was draped improbably across the sofa, in a way that seemed to defy gravity considering she had been completely unconscious and Erin struggled just to wake her. The forces of physics certainly should have pulled her off the sofa at some point during the night, but she managed to remain perfectly balanced, legs and arms spread wide and each one bent at a new and incomprehensibly dangerous angle. Her head had dropped back over the edge of the sofa, and she'd been hanging almost upside down by the time Erin came to wake her.

Unhappy at the intrusion, Holtzmann only answer with a huff and by grabbing her mess of blankets and pillows and hauling all of them with her as she turned her back to Erin and coiled up on the sofa. Suddenly she seemed so much smaller, tightly and neatly fit inside the space the cushions provided. Erin shook her again, harder now that she knew she would not fall to possible injury.

"Come on, we're going to be late for work. It's already 8!"

Holtzmann woke up a bit more at that, a laugh bubbling up from her chest and bursting out into the room in a joyous rush. She sat up and span around all in one motion, nearly knocking Erin completely off her feet since she had been leaning in once more. The laughter continued, and Erin stared helplessly, not knowing what about her innocent statement and concerns were quite so hilarious. Still, Holtzmann's laugh, loud and carefree, with breaks of sound when she lost herself to snorts and struggled, failed attempts to silence herself, was infectious. Eventually, Erin let out a confused chuckle, then began to laugh despite herself.

"You're such a dummy, sweet thing," Holtzmann said affectionately, lunging suddenly to catch Erin by both sides of her face. For a moment, Erin thought she was going to be kissed, as she had the night before when Holtzmann instead touched foreheads with her. This moment was not quite as tender as that one, but the Nuclear Engineer was nothing if not unpredictable. Instead, Holtzmann held her face rather tightly between her two palms, grinning ear to ear, before turning her head sideways. There was a clock on the wall, but the timer was obviously incorrect. It read 5am. Of course, it was a digital display, unlike the one on her watch that she'd been relying on.

Slow realization came over Erin, and her laughter faded as Holtzmann's only intensified. She pulled away from Erin in a giggle fit, curling back onto the sofa and kicking her feet in the air with a whoop of victory.

"I set your clock back yesterday," Holtzmann confessed, though Erin had already figured that part out, and was staring at her watch like it was a traitor she no longer recognized.

"That would account for how dark it is. Why would you do that?"

Holtzmann gave her a very serious look, and Erin sighed. Did she ever need a reason to play a prank? If she did, she was not going to share it, anyway. Slumping a bit, Erin sat herself down on the end of the sofa, looking disdainfully at her companion. Holtzmann sagged in due order, crawling over to Erin and putting her head in her lap. She looked up at her, shameless, but apologizing.

"Holtzy sorry."

Erin nodded her head a few too many times and tried to flee, moving sideways as if to slip herself from under Holtzmann, but the other woman had a different plan. She grabbed Erin around the waist and tugged her as hard as she could from the awkward angle, causing Erin to fall back onto the sofa, directly onto Holtzmann. They were facing opposite directions now, Holtzmann angling her head down to look at Erin while bracing her arms on both of Erin's legs. She kept them hostage, grinning. Erin struggled, uncomfortable to say the least, considering a woman's head was between her lower legs. At least she was able to shield herself from any unwanted peeking. Not that Holtzmann even tried, her eyes on Erin's face.

"Holtzmann!"

"Sorry again?"

"No!"

"Oh, come on, Erin. At least you get the chance to sleep with me."

Erin's brain ground to a halt, and she stared open mouthed at the blond, unable to register any new thoughts for a long, painfully awkward moment. Holtzmann watched her panic, eyes sparkling, eagerly searching her face for every twitch, every doubt, every ounce of confusion and sexual indecision. It was a delight, but she could also see that it was a massive problem for the isolated and repressed woman, and she raised her hand in an effort to calm her. She climbed her way from under her coworker and flopped herself on top of her instead, nuzzling against her for a short moment before rolling off and dropping onto the floor.

There would be no going back to bed, together or separate, that was clear.

"I'm going to go grab a shower. Then you can. I'll have your outfit picked out for you by the time you're done! Breakfast too! Domestic Holtzmann, at your service!" She saluted once she bounced back up to her feet, winking at Erin in that way, Erin had not failed to notice, that was uniquely for her.

"W-wait, what?"

Holtzmann was sprinting off down the hall before Erin could really protest, though she yelled after her anyway. "I don't need you to let me borrow your clothes… I…. well, I did wear this yesterday… I-I'm not wearing overalls, Holtz!"

An hour later, Erin's hair still in a towel on her head and her body wrapped in a robe that was too big for her, let alone Holtzmann, the duo were standing at the foot of the bed. There was a pale yellow button up blouse almost similar to something Erin would actually wear, but paired with a flamboyantly colorful wool scarf and what appeared to be men's overalls. Either Holtzmann had not heard Erin's protest, or, more likely, had.

"I can't wear this to work," Erin frowned. Holtzmann, wrapped in a towel to cover her body and nothing else beyond it, put her hands on her hips and stared at the outfit, then back at Erin. Her face cycled through looks of thought, understanding, disappointment, and then finally enlightenment.

"No, you're right. You're right! Not like this."

She hurried away, digging through her closet and vanishing into it despite it not being a walk in sized one. She emerged a surprisingly long while later holding two belts, and a small collection of other knickknacks she assumed would help Erin feel more comfortable. She also had a box under her arm, though she was handling that with more care than the rest. She tossed the rest to the bed, on top of the outfit, then put the box down gently next to the pile. She looked at Erin, grinning broadly.

"Either you get dressed in that, or I get dressed right here."

She had her clothes in the bathroom, but she would not have any problem running in there, grabbing them, and returning in time to block Erin's escape and give her the show she never wanted.

"Oh, just go in the bathroom, Holtzmann!"

With a grin, the nuclear engineer moved to do as directed, laughing and patting Erin reassuringly on the shoulder as she did. Erin could not resist a smile, rolling her eyes. She waited for the door to be closed before looking around, though Holtzmann's voice came through the door in a sing song tone.

"Don't think about trying to find your dirty clothes! They are being undirtied!"

Erin swore to herself, but was not surprised. It was either go get soggy, half washed clothes from the washing machine, or wear the outfit Holtzmann provided. Eventually, she lost her own internal war and went to get dressed. She was just finishing up clipping her overalls into place when Holtzmann emerged from the bathroom. Erin turned and was startled by the woman that greeted her. Jillian had found the closest things in her wild closet that resembled her coworker's style. She was wearing a form fitting skirt that ended just above the knees, and blouse that was buttoned up all the way and a business cut jacket over it. She had her hair down, which was so strangely arresting to Erin's mind that she had to linger on it.

She had not known Holtzmann's hair came down from the wild nest on the top of her head. Even when it was drying and she was wearing just a towel a few moments ago, she had it pinned up. Now, it was cascading just over her shoulders in gentle waves, framing her slight, soft face. The only thing recognizable about her outfit was her yellow tinted glasses. She was staring at the floor, her hands clasped behind her back, and she took a long moment before she mastered herself and looked up with her usual bright, curious expression.

"If you're going to be me today, you're going to need a bit more style. Come here," Holtzmann moved to her, taking a belt from the bed and moving to clip it around Erin's waist. She was careful about it, keeping close but not wanting to frighten her further. She looped the first belt loosely, letting it hang lopsided, then cinched another one the opposite way, a little tighter. She picked up the box and opened it, taking a necklace from it and, with a short look to get permission, looped it over her head and around her neck. She stepped back, smiling proudly at the giant silver U sitting inside a circle, punctured by a screw.

It was the necklace she wore to work every day.

"I…" Erin looked down at the necklace, then back at Holtzmann, "when did we agree to dress like each other?"

Holtzmann ignored the question, reaching up to start styling Erin's hair for her. She did not go over the top with it, knowing that would be too much for Erin's boundaries, which she was already pushing. She just gave her a bit more style, not straightening her hair to death like Erin seemed to like to do, and instead letting it dry naturally. She liked the waves, anyway. Running her fingers through Erin's hair a few more times, for some lift and to make sure things were in the right place, she stepped back and gave her a thumbs up.

"Hope you're ready for a walk. We better get going if we're going to get there on time. Oh, wait, one more thing."

Holtzmann moved to undo one of the overall clips, smiling lovingly at the work and patting her hand over the other's shoulder reassuringly. It was not a comfort that was really necessary, as Erin had already come to accept this weird day for what it was. She was opening up, bit by bit, and it was all Holtzmann's fault. Not that blame was exactly what Erin wanted to throw around at the moment.

Erin watched as Holtzmann bounced out of the room, smiling warmly. The whimsy that woman was capable of at the drop of a hat was very surprising and, ultimately, endearing. For all her fear of making friends, of failing to make them, she had somehow gotten it right here and for that she was thankful. Sometimes she wondered if Holtzmann ever really understood just what she meant to people, the impact her unpredictable behavior had on people like Erin, who spent most of their time planning everything to a the finest point.

"Come on, Dr Gilbert!" Holtzmann called from the living room, snapping Erin out of her thoughts. "We're going to be late for work because of you! What will the others think? This will be your first tardy mark, besides that one day when you didn't show up at all because you were yelling like a lunatic at the mayor!"

Erin Gilbert shook her head, huffing a bit at the memory and then realizing what Holtzmann said was true. She ran to meet Holtzmann at the door, pulling on her shoes as she went. They did not really go with the outfit, but that just made them more charming. Erin had her boots on, and she opened the door to hold it for Erin. At this point, neither remembered who had been there for whom, or why. But both were better off for it happening.

It was going to be a fun day at work.

As Jillian Holtzmann closed and locked the door behind her, leaning back on it for a moment to watch Erin walk down toward the road, she thought it might just be the best day so far.


End file.
